Fishing rod rack



Dec. 13, 1966 E, 1.. HUTCHINGS FISHING ROD RACK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledAug. 9, 1965 INVENTOR. ELMER L. HUTCHINGS 9770/? E vs E. L. HUTCHINGSDec. 13, 1966 FISHING ROD RACK 2 Sheets--$heet Filed Aug. 9, 1965INVENTOR. EZMER L //U Tc H/A/GS HTTORNEYS United States Patent Office3,291,427 Patented Dec. 13, 1966 3,291,427 FiSHlNG ROD RACK Elmer L.Hutchings, 1014 E. 24th Ave, North Kansas City, Mo. Filed Aug. 9, 1965,Ser. No. 478,276 7 Claims. (Cl. 248201) This invention relates to afishing rod rack, and more particularly to racks for attachment to thegunwale of a boat for holding the rods along the inside of the boat ineasy access to a person in any part of the boat.

Ordinarily when fishing from a row boat, motor boat or the like, rodsare laid in the bottom of the boat, or the reel end thereof laid on thebottom of the boat and the rod portion lies on a seat of the boat oreven alongside the boat where they may be accidentally stepped upon,damaged or broken. A feature of the present invention is that by storingthe rods along the side of the boat the hooks on the lines may be out ofthe way of the fisherman so he will not be injure-d thereby.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a pair ofracks adapted to be attached to the gunwale of the boat or the topsideedge thereof, having a portion extending downwardly and inwardly alongthe inside of the boat and having a resilient material carried by saidportions wherein there is an opening for receiving the small end of therod in said opening and the other rack has a groove intersected by anopening for receiving the handle end of the rods.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide a device of thischaracter which may be attached to the side walls of a room, such as atack room, garage or other type structure.

Still further objects of the present invention are to provide asubstantially rectangular shaped portion of the rack for engaging thetop edge or gunwale of the boat in spaced relation; to provide means forsecuring the rectangular shaped portion to the gunwale; to provide armson the racks extending at an angle from the rectangular portion of theracks and having side flanges providing a space for receiving anelongated resilient member and having openings for receiving the rodsand holding the same thereto; to provide one of the racks with anelliptical shaped opening for receiving the smaller tip end of the rodand the rack opposite thereto having a notch and slot portionintersected by a circular opening into which the back or larger end ofthe rod may be inserted to hold the same therein; to provide theresilient material with a plurality of such openings and notches inspaced relation for holding a plurality of rods; and to provide thesides or flanges of the arms of the racks with inwardly turned portionsfor engaging the resilient material and holding the same therein.

Still further objects of the present invention are to provide means forfastening the racks to a wall or support in a room or the like; toprovide a threaded clamp rod in the substantially rectangular portion ofthe racks to engage the gunwale of the boat and secure the same rigidlythereto, and when the racks are secured to a wall of a structure orroom, the threaded clamp rod with its disc member will engage thefastening or keeper portion secured to said wall; and to provide adevice of this character simple and economical to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent fromthe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings wherein are set forth by way of illustration and examplecertain embodiments of this invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the racks shown attached to the gunwaleof a boat with the rods attached thereto.

' inwardly thereof.

FIG. 2 is a top planed view of one of the rods.

FIG. 3 is a partly cross-sectional view of the side of the boat and oneof the racks.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the keeper or clamping member forattachment of the racks to a wall of a building structure.

FIG. 5 is fragmentary planed view illustrating the keeper structure.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary partial front view showing the keeper structureattached to a Wall.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

1 designates the side wall of a boat and 2 the gunwale or top edgethereof to which may be attached the rod racks embodying the feature ofmy invention wherein 3 designates one of a pair of racks and 4 the otherof such pair of racks.

The racks are identical except for the resilient portions 5 and 6 andonly one will be described. The racks 3 and 4 are made from a strip ofmetal or the like 7 about one-inch in width and one-eighth inch thickand consist of a substantially U-shaped portion 8 having elongated arms9 extending at an angle of about 30 from the arm portion 10 of theU-shaped member. The arms 10 are bent laterally forming a bar portion 11and again turned laterally forming arms 12 to extend parallel with thearms 10 which engages the outside of the gunwale 2 as illustrated inFIG. 1 when the racks are attached thereto, thus providing thesubstantially U-shaped member 8 and a space 13 for receiving the gunwale2.

In order to provide sufficient rigidity to the U-shaped structure, thearms 10 and 12 and bar 11 are provided with embossings 14, 15 and 16,FIG. 3. The embossings are convex in configuration and bordered on allsides with horizontal surfaces. I also provide a substantially 45 anglegusett 17 and 18 into each of the right angles of the bent portionsbetween the arms 10 and 12, also as illustrated in FIG. 3.

Both of the arms 9 have their sides bent at right angles to the flatsurface 19 thereof forming sides 20 and 21 (FIG. 2). Mounted between thesides 20 and 21 are the resilient elongated flat members 5 and 6 and thesides 20 and 21 are extended inwardly at their inner edges formingflanges 22 and 23 for gripping and retaining the resilient members 5 and6 between the side members 20 and 21.

The elongated resilient members are preferably made of neoprene rubberor the like and the member 5 is provided with an elliptical shapedopening 24 and the rack 3 opposite the opening 24 is provided with anotch 25 and groove 25 intersected by a circular opening 26 The purposeof having the notch, groove and opening opposite the elliptical opening24 is so that the tip or small end 27 of a rod 28 may be insertedthrough the elliptical opening 24 easily by a person in a boat sittingrearwardly or to the left side of the rack 3 and the rear or handle endof the rod, which is the larger portion, inserted through the notch 25and slot 25' into the opening 26 in the rack 3 within easy reach of theperson sitting near that rack.

Spaced from the elliptical opening 24 is a notch portion 29 and slotintersected by a circular opening 31 and spaced from the circularopening 26 in the rack 3 is an elliptical opening 32 so that a personsitting to the right of the rack 4 may insert the tip end 33 of a rod 34through the elliptical opening and the handle end of the rod insertedthrough the notch 29, and slot 30 into the opening 31. I have here showntwo elliptical openings and two notches and slots with openings in eachof the resilient members 5 and 6, thus accommodating four rods, and theopenings and notches appear alternately lengthwise in the members 5 and6 so that two rods may be inserted from each side of the racks 3 and 4.Any number of openings and slots may be utilized.

In order to secure the U-shaped portions 8 of the rack to the gunwale ofthe boat, I provide the arms 10 of the U-shaped portions 8 with openings35 to receive a threaded bearing or clinch nut 36 (FIG. 3) for receivinga threaded clamp rod 37 having its outer end turned laterally to formfinger member 38. A disc member 39 is secured to the other end of rod 37and is adapted to engage the side 38 of the gunwale as illustrated inFIG. 3, thereby by tightening of the clamp rod the racks may be rigidlysupported by the gunwale in spaced relation as illustrated in FIG. 1.

In FIGS. 4, and 6 I have illustrated the clamp rods attached to a wallstructure 40 by keeper members 41 and 42 consisting of flat strips ofmetal or the like having their center portion embossed or offsetlaterally as indicated at 43 and 44 forming a space 45 of substantiallythe same depth as the thickness of the arm portion 12 of the U-shapedmembers 8 of the racks 3 and 4. Spaced from the ends of the keepermembers 41 and 42 are openings 46 and 47 for receiving screws or thelike 48 and 49 for fastening the keeper members to the wall 40. Withthis form of the invention, the racks are secured to the keeper members41 and 42 by inserting the arm portions 12 thereof in the recesses 43between said embossed portions 43 and 44 and said Wall and by tighteningof the clamping rods the disc portion 39 will engage the embossedportions as illustrated in FIG. 4 and hold the racks rigidly attached tosaid keeper members.

In this form of the invention the rods are inserted in the openings andnotches the same as in the invention shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

'It will be obvious from the foregoing that I have provided an improvedrack for fishing rods and the like which may be quickly assembled anddisassembled to the gunwale of a boat or to the wall of a buildingstructure and to which the rods may be assembled easily and quickly andremoved therefrom and wherein they will be kept in an untangled mannerand free from harm by persons moving around in the boat or in the room.

It will be further obvious that while I have shown the rack to be madeof metal and the resilient members of rubber, I do not wish to belimited to such material as other material may be used without departingfrom the spirit of my invention.

It is to be understood that While I have illustrated and described oneform of my invention, it is not to be limited to the specific form orarrangement of parts herein described and shown except insofar as suchlimitations are included in the claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination a holding device for fishing rods having tip and rearends and mounted on a support comprising,

(a) a pair of rod racks,

(b) each of said racks including a U-shaped portion for engaging saidsupport and securing said rod racks to said support in spaced relation,

(c) a threaded clamp rod carried by said U-shaped portion and having aportion engaging said support, each of said rod racks having anelongated arm portion,

(d) an elongated resilient member of substantially the same length ofsaid arms,

(e) means on said arms for securing said resilient members to said arms,and

(if) one of said resilient members having spaced alternate openingswithin the member and slots extending therein from an outer edge and theother resilient member having spaced alternate slots extending thereinfrom the outer edge and openings within the member, the openings in oneresilient member being in longitudinal alignment with the slots on theother resilient member, whereby the tip end of the rod is insertedthrough one of said openings and the rear end of the rod is inserted inthe slot in alignment with said last named opening.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the means securing said resilientmembers to said arms includes side members on said arms having portionsturned toward each other for engaging said resilient members.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said arms extend from saidU-shaped member at an angle of approximately 30.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein the means securing said resilientmembers to said arms includes side members on said arms having portionsturned toward each other for engaging said resilient members.

5. In combination, a holding device for fishing rods having tip and rearends and mounted on a support comprising:

(a) a pair of rod racks, said racks each having a U- shaped portion andeach having an elongated arm extending from said U-shaped portion,

(b) a pair of keeper members having an offset portion and plane surfaceson each side of said offset portion,

(0) means securing said keeper members to said support,

(d) said U-shaped portions of said racks having arms engaging betweensaid oflset portions of said keeper members and said support,

(e) a threaded clamp rod member carried by each of said U-shapedportions of said racks and having a portion on said rod members engagingeach of said keeper members for retaining said racks on said support,and said first named arms spaced from said support,

(f) an elongated resilient member carried by each of said first namedarms, and

(g) means on said resilient members for receiving the respective ends ofsaid fishing rod for supporting said fishing rod on said arms.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein the means on said resilientmembers for receiving the respective ends of said fishing rods consistsof alternate openings and slots therein, said tip end of the rod beinginsertable through said opening in one of said resilient members andsaid rear end of the rod receivable in a slot on the other resilientmember.

7. The combination of claim 5 wherein said first named arms extend fromthe U-shaped portion of said racks at an angle of approximately 30.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 22,644 5/1945Stroben 248-224 X 121,444 11/1871 Woods, et al 248226 1,033,052 7/1912Herrold 248226 1,192,1'12 7/1916 Porter 248%226 X 1,218,531 3/1917Dilthey 248-324 1,855,009 4/1932 Clegg 3483 13 1,970,962 8/1934 Hinckley22442.45 2,189,369 2/1940 Samuels 248350 2,514,266 7/ 1950 Walslager 22442.45 2,578,067 12/ 1 Jensen 224-4245 2,628,051 2/1953 Anderson 248.226.1 2,797,851 7/1957 Leake 248201 X 3,202,291 8/1965 Root 248-3165 XFOREIGN PATENTS 230,471 1/1944 Switzerland.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

1. IN COMBINATION A HOLDING DEVICE FOR FISHING RODS HAVING TIP AND REARENDS AND MOUNTED ON A SUPPORT COMPRISING, (A) A PAIR OF ROD RACKS, (B)EACH OF SAID RACKS INCLUDING A U-SHAPED PORTION FOR ENGAGING SAIDSUPPORT AND SECURING SAID ROD RACKS TO SAID SUPPORT IN SPACED RELATION,(C) A THREADED CLAMP ROD CARRIED BY SAID U-SHAPED PORTION AND HAVING APORTION ENGAGING SAID SUPPORT, EACH OF SAID ROD RACKS HAVING ANELONGATED ARM PORTION, (D) AN ELONGATED RESILINET MEMBER OFSUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME LENGTH OF SAID ARMS, (E) MEANS ON SAID ARMS FORSECURING SAID RESILIENT MEMBERS TO SAID ARMS, AND (F) ONE OF SAIDRESILIENT MEMBERS HAVING SPACED ALTERNATE OPENINGS WITHIN THE MEMBER ANDSLOTS EXTENDING THEREIN FROM AN OUTER EDGE AND THE OTHER RESILIENTMEMBER HAVING SPACED ALTERNATE SLOTS EXTENDING THEREIN FROM THE OUTEREDGE AND OPENINGS WITHIN THE MEMBER, THE OPENINGS IN ONE RESILIENTMEMBER BEING IN LONGITUDINAL ALIGNMENT WITH THE SLOTS ON THE OTHERRRESILIENT MEMBER, WHEREBY THE TIP END OF THE ROD IS INSERTED THROUGHONE OF SAID OPENINGS AND THE REAR END OF THE ROD IS INSERTED IN THE SLOTIN ALIGNMENT WITH THE LAST NAMED OPENING.